


I n t r u d e r s .

by toni_of_the_trees



Category: Hannibal (TV), Intruders (Film)
Genre: Adolescent Regression, Agoraphobia, Angst, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Anxiety Disorder, Breaking and Entering, Brief description of Rape/Sexual Assault, Cannibalism, Caring robbers, Conflict ensues, Depression, Fluff, Gambling, Graphic Description of Corpses, Hannibal & Matthew are partners in crime, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Mason Verger is a third wheel, Mental Breakdown, Mental Instability, Murder, OCD, Only slightly related to Intruders movie, PTSD, Past Child Abuse, Physical Abuse, Psychological Torture, Robbery, Severe Symptoms, Sweetness, Trauma, Trigger Warnings, Violence, Will is too innocent, blah, clears throat, for Phobic Home seclusion, it hurts, rudeness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-25
Updated: 2017-05-05
Packaged: 2018-10-23 20:54:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10727055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toni_of_the_trees/pseuds/toni_of_the_trees
Summary: Matthew jerked awake in the passenger seat, uncrossing his arms as he caught himself from an imaginary fall. Hannibal looked to him with a slightly concerned expression, the younger man sighing heavily as he shook his shoulders and rubbed his tired face. "Falling nightmare- shut up. Was hoping I wouldn't wake up in the middle of a field somewh- oh, look, I fucking DID." Matthew slammed his head back against the headrest and groaned, Hannibal grinning at the amusing bratty man."What's this now?" Hannibal stayed put as a truck without their headlights on passed their hiding spot and parked in front of the farm house. "Did you invite others without letting me know, Matthew?""Huh? No, who the fuck is that, is that the guy you're talking about that lives here? What, did we wait for him to get HOME to rob him?! What kinda shit plan do you have here Hanner's?!" Matthew leaned across Hannibal and the steering wheel to try and see what he was seeing, Hannibal rolling his eyes as he pushed him back into his seat."Let's see for ourselves."





	1. Smoke Rises

**Author's Note:**

> Hannibal usually has a tough time dealing with Matthew's impatient childish behavior.
> 
> Today he's tested beyond that toleration.
> 
>  
> 
> \---  
> Ps. Techno Beethoven is what I imagine as a mashup of Matt and Hanni's musical interests sitting in the  
> car with nothing to do but listen to a battle of genres. : P 
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aZzVnOmGtY

 

  

 

Hannibal and Matthew pulled up to the isolated farm home with their headlights out in the cold  
fall night. Parking in the field, Hannibal turned off the engine and exhaled as he relaxed in the seat,  
glancing at Matthew when the younger man lifted and dropped his hands in his lap.

"Problem?" Hannibal asked with a raised brow. Matthew scoffed and twisted in his seat to look around  
the dark field they sat parked in. "Uh, naw, I mean, just that I wasn't planning on harvesting crops  
t'night. What the hell are we doing here?"

"Patience. You need money to get out of your ridiculous debt, I'm not going to let you go about  
getting it by hurting innocent people. This farming man has a great deal of money but for some reason  
only has touched a small portion of it to pay off this farm. The rest is apparently just sitting around.  
I don't believe he'll miss it if a few hundred k dissapears. Strange thing is I've been here a few times  
to establish a visitors schedule and coming or going hours. For over 4 months I haven't seen anyone  
but a grocery delivery man and a woman dressed in expensive attire. I'm assuming she's someone  
he's become romantically involved with, there isn't much information on him really in existance."

Hannibal stopped talking and glared at Matthew when he scoffed again and pulled out a cigarette to light.  
He clicked the doors unlocked, recieving a questioning look from the bright green eyes. "You're joking, we're  
hiding out in a field stalking a damn farm house and you want me to get out your precious car to smoke a cigarette?  
I'll be like a freakin' Indian out there sending smoke signals- hey look we're here!" Matthew exaggerated his hands  
as he snapped his seatbelt undone.

"You could not smoke at all if you're that concerned about alerting our whereabouts, even  
if I were to allow you to smoke inside the window would be open. You seem to forget that  
smoke rises no matter where you are."

"Sometimes it's really hard being friends with you-" Matthew grumbled as he climbed out of the car.

Hannibal chuckled and checked his watch.

\---

Matthew jerked awake in the passenger seat, uncrossing his arms as he caught himself from an imaginary fall.

Hannibal looked to him with a slightly concerned expression, the younger man sighing heavily as he shook  
his shoulders and rubbed his tired face.

"Falling nightmare- shut up. Was hoping I wouldn't wake up in the middle of a field somewh- oh, look, I  
fucking DID." Matthew slammed his head back against the headrest and groaned, Hannibal grinning at the  
amusing bratty man.

"What's this now?" Hannibal stayed put as a truck without their headlights on passed their hiding spot and  
parked in front of the farm house.

"Did you invite others without letting me know, Matthew?"

"Huh? No, who the fuck is that, is that the guy you're talking about that lives here? What, did we wait for  
him to get HOME to rob him?! What kinda shit plan do you have here Hanner's?!" Matthew leaned across Hannibal  
and the steering wheel to try and see what he was seeing, Hannibal rolling his eyes as he pushed him back into  
his seat.

"I don't know who it is. I've never seen this vehicle before. It's not the well dressed woman's and I've never seen  
the young man- or another vehicle he could possibly use. It seems someone else may know what we know."

"I'm not even sure I even know what we know, what the hell do we know? When you try and talk to me all I  
hear is money money money."

They waited almost 15 minutes after the stranger went inside, deciding to go in finally.

Hannibal climbed out of the car and popped the trunk, Matthew watching as he twisted in his seat then back  
around to jump out as well.

Matthew rounded to the trunk and helped him grab the black totes.

"Simply follow my lead, don't touch everything, don't kill anyone, and we'll be out in  
no time." Hannibal quietly shut the trunk and threw the bag strap over his shoulder, gesturing Matthew to  
follow him, hidden by the tall wheat-grass as they went.

"Don't touch, don't kill, don't smoke, startin' to feel like I'm just here in case you need someone to blame if  
your ass gets caught."

Hannibal smirked and turned to wink at him, the sarcastic look on Matthew's face changing quickly to shock  
at the gesture.

"Am I a patsy, you jerk!?"

"If you keep your voice up like that you will be."  
  
\---

Hannibal peeked in the truck for a moment as they passed it, lightly stepping up the porch steps to see the door  
lock was broken open already.

They looked at each other curiously, pushing the door open slowly and stepped in one then the other.

The house was dark, not a single light on, only the moonlight illuminating the clustered furniture and  
the complex twisting layout of walls, corners, turns, and halls each leading to a variety of different areas of the  
home.

"Where-"

Matthew stopped when Hannibal held a hand up, the other gripping his bag as he gestured his finger up for the  
man to listen with him.

Hannibal snapped his eyes to Matthew's widened bright green eyes when they heard a muffled shout before a  
heavy thump. Matthew snatched out his pistol from the waist of his jeans under his black pullover hoodie and  
shrugged the bag off his shoulder, lightly setting it to the ground as he began walking around the winding  
sectioned rooms. Hannibal sat his bag down slowly as well, just touching his hand to his leather jacket  
pocket to assure his blade was still there- shifting around the shadows after Matthew.

Hannibal snagged Matthew's hood and yanked him back into a crevasse corner when there was a louder thump  
from above, the sound of bare footsteps hurrying down the stairway as a voice laughed and cursed in the distance.

They stood frozen in their hiding spot as the second set of heavier footsteps followed after the first ones.

"This is no time for a game of cat and mouse!" The voice called out as the heavy boots hopped down  
the last two steps and caught whoever he was chasing- the struggle muffled but audible as a younger  
voice cried out, the call for help was cut short with a violent sounding crack.

"There, see, I wouldn't have had to do that if you had just stayed put and told me what I needed to know!"

  
Matthew furrowed his brow and stepped out of the shadowed corner, Hannibal grabbing his wrist as a  
warning but let him go when he spoke loud and clear.

"MASON?"

Hannibal practically rolled his eyes back into his head when he recognized the name as someone Matthew  
used to gamble with and stepped out with him.

"Matthew, buddy ol' pal! What a small itty bitty world it is to see you here!" Mason grinned as he stood up  
from crouching over the limp body.

"What the fuck are you doing here you god damned psycho maniac?"

"Yes, Mason, I'd love to know how you knew we'd be here and how you even knew about, 'here'."  
Hannibal added as he stepped over to see what he had done to the young man.

"Oh, well, Matthew here has a case of the loose lips- and you know how THOSE always go," Mason  
chuckled, "- you sink some ships!" He shrugged and snapped his latex gloves around his wrist.

Hannibal glanced over his shoulder at Matthew with a disappointing look and knelt down to check the  
person's pulse.

"I never told you to go case the place yourself, if you wanted in you coulda said something, ass! Now  
what the hell did you do?!" Matthew stepped over to join Hannibal in the crouch.

"Ah, this, ladies and gentlemen, is the very wealthy, beautiful I might add, young man who just happens to be quite skiddish when  
cornered. Little rabbit took off on me before I could tie him up properly to get the treasure's location  
out of him." Mason huffed and planted his fists on his hips as he watched Hannibal turn the body onto  
it's back.

Matthew pulled his small flashlight out and held it up to look at the unconscious homeowner.

"Jesus, ya'll, he's gotta be like in his early 20's...we sure this isn't the owner's damn kid?"  
Matt worried his eyes over the young man, his pale skin and chocolate tousled curls healthy and  
youthful- a bruised cut on his forehead bleeding down his pink cheeks down to his collar bone  
and running across his laid flat shoulder on his bare torso. He frowned when he turned the light  
down to the paw-print decorated pajama bottoms.

"He's still got a pulse, thankfully. I'd appreciate if we went on from this point on without harming  
anyone else- Mason." Hannibal demanded with a sigh as he wiped a bit of blood from the boy's  
brow.

"Righty-O." Mason shrugged and leaned against the stairway beam, watching Matthew and Hannibal  
lift and carry the unconscious thing to the couch.

 

"Should we tie him up?" Matthew asked as he adjusted the legs on the cushions.

"No. He'd only wake up frightened. Search the house for what you're looking for- it'll likely be a safe or  
a hidden compartment. Anything you'd like to share with us, Mason?" Hannibal straightened and looked  
to the dirty blonde man dressed in a pea-coat and slacks.

"Oh, simple things- the boy's name is Will Graham, he's...mmm, 24 years old if my math is right from his  
birth certificate. I had some time to snoop around before I found him in the upstairs bedroom. As you  
can tell, he's quite the reader. Loads of newspapers and books throughout the home. Likes to keep up  
with the times for sure! Let's see...his parent's passed about 6 years ago, death certificates...he got this  
lovely little farm and country home estate from them. Along with, golly what a load of money, he doesn't  
seem to touch for anything. I do believe he donates to charities of medical research often, but that's  
more under the radar- which he seems to prefer. I only found out through his mail."

"Wow...how the hell long were you here without the kid noticing you?"  
Matthew scoffed in disbelief.

"Hm? Only about 10 minutes before you showed up. I dropped by a few times before tonight."  
Mason laughed and toyed with a small blade as he walked over to the couch and leaned over to look  
at the boy.

"You're insane." Matthew sighed.

"I'M insane? This youngster hasn't left the house in a solid two weeks! I had to sneak around quiet as a church  
mouse just to do my little treasure hunts!"

Hannibal quirked his head at that, blinking up from the couch to Mason.

"You noticed that about him too- that he never seems to ever be seen coming or going?"  
Hannibal ran his gloved fingers over the curly mess curiously now, examining the gash on his forehead again.

"So, what, he's a lazy kid who likes to read alot. Has a ton of money, gets his groceries delivered and stocks  
up on newspapers to maybe collect the comic strips or some shit- I'm honestly not here to learn the kids  
life story, can we just get the search on?" Matthew grumbled impatiently, pulling his flashlight back out.

"One of us needs to watch the boy in case he wakes up. This may take a while." Hannibal said, picking up his  
bag to pull his own flashlight out. "I'll take first watch since I've contributed a good amount more to help  
you gentlemen, I could do for a break off my feet." Mason smirked and dragged a wooden chair over  
in front of the couch, sitting down to cross his arms and ankles over one another.

"Yeah, just don't get all psycho on him if he wakes up- let us know as soon as he so much as fuckin' yawns."  
Matthew snarled at the smug man, shining the light in his face as the thin glasses reflected bright in the beam.

"Aye-Aye capn' Brown!"

 

\---


	2. Rabbit Hole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Look who's awake!" Mason beamed with a grin, taking a step down towards him as he gasped and  
> took off into the kitchen to find the phone with fumbling hands. He groaned when he saw the cut  
> cord on the line and tossed it before hurrying into the study- slamming the door shut and locking it  
> behind him.
> 
> Mason skidded to a stop at the door and laughed, jiggling the handle before kicking the frame.
> 
> "What the hell is going on down here!?" Matthew called out, running down the stairs. 
> 
> "Little rabbit is on the run again!" Mason shouted through an amused smile, both of them looking to  
> Hannibal as the man licked his lips and sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mason's a pos but he's adorable so, hush.
> 
> :p

 

 

   

 

  
Night turned dangerously close to day, their search fruitless as they all grew frustrated, trading places as Will remained   
unconscious on the couch. Hannibal's turn to watch him was spent stitching up the injury and cleaning   
the blood from his pale skin.

He tilted his head a bit to stare at the boy, ghosting his thumb over the slightly parted pink lips that  
breathed so softly. He raised a brow when the light touch caused Will to stir with a short moan.

Glancing around to see Matthew or Mason weren't anywhere around, he took his glove off, stroking the  
soft messy curls back gently a few coaxing times.

"William- can you open your eyes for me?"

Will groaned and tried to, cringing as he attempted sitting up.

"No, you need to stay resting flat for a while until I'm sure you haven't suffered any brain damage...I need  
you to open your eyes for me dear, it's alright."

"I...I got hit with something...someone-" Will swallowed and cracked his eyes open as he coughed to clear  
his dry throat, blinking up at Hannibal in confusion.

Hannibal could swear his heart needed to take a moment to restart when those baby blue-green eyes opened  
and batted dark beautiful lashes up at him. He stared at him with a half smile and shined the light to each   
pupil to check the dialation response.

Will squinted and blinked a few more times at the bright beam, looking at the white medical gloves then   
to the leather jacket the stranger was wearing. When the light turned off he furrowed his brows at the  
handsome man, his ashy golden hair dusting over a sun-tanned brow- sharp chiseled features that   
seemed somehow intimidating but gentle and alluring at the same time.

"Can you tell me your name and what kind of cat you have?" Hannibal studied the boy's soft groggy  
expression as it changed to almost repulsion. "M-my name is Will Graham, and I don't have a cat, I   
don't like them, they like to cling to ankles..."

Hannibal chuckled from his chest and smiled with a nod. "This is true...you seem fine. I'm glad."

Will strained as he sat up on the couch, grunting at the ache. "...where are the cops?"

Hannibal quirked his head at the boy and waited a moment before he realized what he was thinking.   
He thought Hannibal was a paramedic called to his home after the break in. That the intruders were  
gone and the ordeal was long over.

"William, I need you to stay calm and stay seated-"

"Oh god...you-you're one of them, what, " Will crawled up onto the cushions, falling over the back of the   
couch to the floor and stumbling to his feet as Hannibal just missed grabbing him with a foreign curse.

Will headed for the stairs, freezing three steps up when Mason stopped at the top with a curious look  
and knife in hand.

"Look who's awake!" Mason beamed with a grin, taking a step down towards him as he gasped and  
took off into the kitchen to find the phone with fumbling hands. He groaned when he saw the cut  
cord on the line and tossed it before hurrying into the study- slamming the door shut and locking it  
behind him.

Mason skidded to a stop at the door and laughed, jiggling the handle before kicking the frame.

"What the hell is going on down here!?" Matthew ran down the stairs with his flashlight swinging in his  
hand.

"Little rabbit is on the run again!" Mason shouted through an amused smile, both of them looking to  
Hannibal as the man licked his lips and sighed.

"You didn't tell us the fuckin' kid woke up? We coulda caught him if he bolted, which he DID, where is  
he, in HERE?" Matthew grabbed the handle and tried it as Mason had with a scowl.

"He was fine, and calm, I believed he was being complacent but it turns out he was just confused as  
to who I was. He assumed I was a doctor and that the police were here." Hannibal pulled out a   
tool and began working at the doors lock, pushing the two aside.

"Why the shit would he be kept at the house for treatment while cops investigate a crime scene? Plus

why didn't he go for the front fucking door, heading upstairs seems kinda fuckin' stupid?"

"Try not to hurt yourself thinking so hard, Matthew." Hannibal muttered as the knob popped open.

\---

Will huffed as he crawled into a medium square in the wall, pulling the panel back in place,   
crawling out of the other end carefully beside the fireplace in the living room. He padded lightly  
across the carpet, spotting the three men entering the study and hurried over to a cornered pantry,  
closing the doors quietly to hide in.

Holding his hands over his mouth, he tried to hold his breath and listen where they were.

 

Matt: ("Where the shit did he go? There's no way out of here- the window is locked from the inside still."

Mason: ("Little bunny boy seems to have a few tricks up his sleeve- lookie here! A rabbit hole!")

Hannibal: ("He has escape routes in the home...Matthew, if you'd be so kind to see where this leads?")

Matt: ("Hell no, and get stabbed in the eye coming out of who knows where with the kid waiting for me!?")

Hannibal: ("Good point...but he could also have left the space and is running across the field to flag down a  
passing car to alert the authorities at any moment now.")

Mason: ("I wouldn't want to dusty up my pea-coat, it's quite expensive. I'll risk he ran.")

Matt: ("Jesus Christ, what pompous psycho ate a pile of trash and shat you out, Mason? Fine, I'll go. Ya'll start looking  
around the fucking house meanwhile, would ya? Be productive or some fucking thing!")

Will held still and listened to the two men depart the study, one pair of steps going up stairs and the other   
circling around the halls and corners near him.

\---

Matt coughed and choked on dust as he punched the wall panel loose and climbed out beside the chimney,  
standing to brush webs and mess from his hoodie with little results. Mason stopped beside the couch and  
stared at Matthew with a smirk.

"Tsk, see now that would have been my darling coat."

"Who the fuck wears a peacoat to a robbery you fuckin' tool?"

"How is it you're one of the few people I tolerate being so rude to me? I'm sure you're just venting your  
hostility towards me because you wouldn't dare speak to old man Lecter that way." Mason scoffed and  
leaned over to peek under the dinner table's cover.

"Really? Hey Hanners, you're a fuckin' tool." Matthew called out as Hannibal descended the stairs with his  
flashlight. Mason stood back up and turned to look at Hannibal with curiosity on his brow.

"And a very well functioning one at that, Matthew dear." Hannibal responded as he reached the bottom and  
looked around with searching eyes.

Matthew raised his shoulders in a deep shrug with a cunning grin as Mason rolled his eyes and abandoned the   
quarrel.

 

"Should have known better, the ol' man likes to collect pets." 

 

\---


	3. Environmental Factors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will heaved a broken shaky breath as he took another step, dropping to one knee as the porch swirled  
> and vibrated violently around him. The stars blared as bright as the moonlight itself while the 'gentle' night  
> breeze screamed against his eardrums like sirens, mixing with screeching nails on a chalkboard.
> 
> The voices around him muffled as he tried to crawl forward, sobbing when the rigorous lucid vision grew  
> more and more blinding, a higher pitched ringing forcing him to stop and cover his ears.
> 
> The front door closed in slow motion as he was carried away  
> from it, an exhausted whimper escaping his lips as he sat cradled in the foreign man's arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yuuup.

 

  

 

  
"What shall we do with our sweet little jumpy boy once we find him?" Mason asked as he rounded the connecting  
rooms into the kitchen, mindlessly checking cabinets. Finding a box of chocolate cordials, he pulled it from the shelf  
and tore it open to snack on.

"It'd be nice first of all not to leave traces of our presence here- but I see you're just going to continue on your  
line of recklessness. We'll just calm him down, ask him where the money is, and leave. He's already terrified."

"Right, I mean, I'm good, I don't think he's seen my face yet, but you two he definitely did. What, do we threaten  
to come back and kill him if he talks or some shit?" Matthew sighed in frustration, shoving the chair from  
beside the couch.

"Not an option gentlemen, if you want no part in my final duties after tonight you're welcome to see yourselves  
out with your shares- meanwhile I'll have to spend a little time skinning a rabbit. I can't have my precious name  
tainted or threatened by a little boy, see?" Mason pursed his lips and shrugged with his knife waving in hand.

"Dude,-" Matthew started, ready to scold and put Mason down again but was cut short when the young man  
bolted from the pantry and ran for the front door. "SHIT!" They all ran after him across the large room and  
turned the corner- all skidding to a stop a few feet away from him.

"What the fuck...?" Matt muttered, Hannibal and Mason silent as they stared at the boy.

Will stood frozen in the doorway with his back to them, his hand gripping the knob of the wide opened door  
so tight his knuckles pinked on his ghostly pale skin.

"...why did he stop?" Matthew asked, steadying his breath from the quick sprint ending so abruptly.

Hannibal approached the boy slowly, noticing he had began sweating profusely, his muscles trembling as  
he stared at the porch mere inches from his bare feet.

Mason quirked an interested smirk when Hannibal snapped his fingers beside the young man's ear, only  
receiving a twitched flinch as he still stood petrified in place before the entryway.

"What the fuck is wrong with him? He afraid to go outside or something?" Matthew started to put it  
together, Mason and Hannibal along with him as they thought of how they had never seen him leave the house  
to the point they didn't even know he lived there.

"Let's test it out," Mason took off his coat and hung it on a free rung nailed to the wall by the doorway,  
"-run along little rabbit, you're free!" He wrapped his arms around the boy's waist and lifted him up, taking a step  
past the door frame onto the porch- grunting when Will suddenly gasped and twisted against him with a shout.

"Oh- we've got a live one!" Mason chuckled as Will slammed his hands to the wood frame screaming in protest  
with kicking legs flailing in the air.

"N-NO NO, DON'T! DON'T TAKE ME OUT, I CAN'T- PLEASE, PLEASE! STOP! PLEASE STOP!"

"Mason- put him down." Hannibal demanded, Mason laughing in excitement as he put the boy back down.

Will whimpered and began hyperventilating, pressing his back against the door as he was surrounded by the three  
men. "How delightful, the poor thing is afraid of the outdoors, he has nowhere to run! Boy did we hit the jackpot!"

"It's not fucking funny, will you shut your trap for two god damned seconds you nut?...Hannibal fix him,  
what the hell's wrong with him, he's freaking out and it's freaking me out." Matthew reached out to grab  
Will's wrist, feeling the pulse pumping frighteningly fast. Matthew's shocked eyes told Hannibal to do the  
same, handing him the boy's wrist to feel as well.

"He's having a panic attack...let's get him away from the door-"

"No, no, now, let's not be too hasty! Let a guy work his magic, will ya?" Mason squeezed past them and stepped  
outside. Hannibal scowled at the man and watched him reach in and grab Will's hands.

"You can do it kiddo, baby steps now! Baby steps! You want to come outside? I'll hold your hands, nothing's  
gonna hurt you out here, it's nice and breezy!" Mason stepped back half a foot, pulling Will's shivering frozen  
body toward him a bit, the boy gasping with a short whimper as his toes neared the edge of the frame-way.

"Mason-"

"You want your money? Let me get it out of him so we're not here till breakfast checking the insides of  
every book, nook, and cranny!"

Hannibal and Matthew didn't like it, but stood and watched curiously at the strange torture Mason was eager  
to explore.

"Here, I'll change up the game darlin', I'll step aside- and you're free to run away, we wont chase you or shoot  
you. We'll just lock you out so we can hurry along our search for your little treasure while you struggle to reach the  
road and flag down a car; if there are any at this hour in this isolated cozy place. I'd say we'll have enough time."  
Mason let his hands go and stepped aside from the doorway on the porch holding his arm out to present  
the escape route.

"-OR, now listen close, you come back inside with us. Tell us where X-Marks-The-Spot, and we'll leave you to  
live your peaceful young life to an old ripe age with all of your limbs in tact!"

\---

Will stood in the doorway trembling in dread, his vision blurring as he tried to move his feet, but they refused, like  
cement bricks weighing his ankles down in place.

He looked at the blonde 'Mason' man smiling at him out from the porch, the environment around him shivering  
like a broken screen glitching in his eyes.

He twitched a quick frown as he shuddered a harsh terrified breath, taking a step out from the doorway- then  
another, and a heavier dragged third.

Matthew and Hannibal worried their eyes at him, wondering if they were really going to let him go, that maybe  
he had been faking it knowing he would be caught unless given the opportunity to dart.

"Atta boy, push through it! You seem like a trooper, get going little hare! You were so fast hopping about  
inside, I'm sure you can manage better than those measly little steps Willy, come on!" Mason egged him on  
excitedly patting his thighs and waving him on out of the home.

Will heaved a broken shaky breath as he took another step, dropping to one knee as the porch swirled  
and vibrated violently around him. The stars blared as bright as the moonlight itself while the 'gentle' night  
breeze screamed against his eardrums like sirens, mixing with screeching nails on a chalkboard.

The voices around him muffled as he tried to crawl forward, sobbing when the rigorous lucid vision grew  
more and more blinding, a higher pitched ringing forcing him to stop and cover his ears and scream.  
His own voice was faint to him, feeling his heart beating like a building timer ready to set a bomb  
off in his chest as his veins mimicked the sensation of burning hot ice.

His hyperventilating caused him to black in and out, he tried to grab a crack in the porch wood in  
attempt to steady the surroundings from spinning out of control. Failing, the ground was suddenly  
gone from under him.

The painful vision faded from a hideous searing static to a blurry haze as he tried to keep his eyes open, blinking  
slow as he was lifted and brought back inside. The front door closed in slow motion as he was carried away  
from it, an exhausted whimper escaping his lips as he sat cradled in the foreign man's arms. The  
worried crimson eyes were the last thing he saw staring straight into his before passing out.

The last thing he heard from the thick accent-

"No more of that...he's agoraphobic.  
We're done with this game."

\---

Matthew groaned as he rubbed his face in frustration, seated in the chair beside the couch. Hannibal raked his fingers through  
the boy's sweaty curls- the exhausted petrified thing lying on the couch with his head in the foreign man's lap.

Matthew slid his hands from his brow to his jaw and sighed, staring at the boy's hooded tired eyes that looked off  
at nothing, trained beside the fireplace. Will's breathing slowed, but trembled as he shivered every now and then.

Guilt filled his chest as he started to imagine how scared the 24 year old must be. Living all alone with such  
a crippling fear of leaving the house, losing his parents at the age of 18 to deal with his phobia on his own. Now  
facing a group of terrifying intruders- big older men with weapons and bags of tools breaking into his only  
safe place. Not to mention one of them a borderline sociopath terrorizing and knocking the daylights  
out of him with the butt end of a knife, threatening to skin him alive and cut him into pieces.

"Fill me in on what the hell is wrong with the kid again? Cause I'm hurtin to get out of this debt from these  
nut-jobs but I'm not about to get some bad juju on me for robbing a disabled kid."

Hannibal saw Matthew's face twisting in the guilt and regret, the younger man itching at his wrist as he  
pushed his dirtied hoodie's sleeves up to his elbows.

"From what I can tell by his reaction and symptoms, he has an aggressive level of the disorder...it's basically  
a ruthless anxiety in situations where his mind perceives an environment to be unsafe with no easy way to  
get away. Typical people with it wont go to open spaces, public transits, shopping malls or step outside  
of the home as the most severe situation. Obviously...young Graham here has the worst of it. What I'm  
afraid of is the fact that sometimes overexposure can result in symptoms lasting over half a year after  
the incident. Inflicted people usually go to great lengths like he has to avoid the situation. We just  
happen to be his bad luck card...."

Hannibal frowned and glanced at Mason, the man sitting on the arm of the couch poking holes in his latex  
gloves with his knife. Mason caught the look and raised a brow- "What, we're blaming me for something  
the poor sweetheart has had for lord know's how long? How does one get to this level of fear, doctor,  
please, enlighten us so I can still my beating heart?" Mason waved his knife before returning to toying  
with it as he chuckled curiously.

Matthew looked to Hannibal, waiting for the intelligent answer as well.

Hannibal sighed and leaned forward to see Will's eyes still cracked open and distant as he tried to come back  
down from his paralyzing anxiety attack.

"It's caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. The condition often runs in families, and  
stressful events- such as the death of a parent or being attacked, could be horrible triggers. I'm guessing he  
had a mild case of it and it dived for the worst when his parents passed at 18."

"You're telling me he hasn't left the house since he was 18 fucking years old? He's fucking 24?"  
Matthew rubbed his temples, unprepared to take in this unexpected information. It was supposed to be a  
simple rob-job. Not a guilt trip with life lessons and counting your blessings.

Mason stayed silent as the two talked, his focus turning to grazing the tip of the knife blade on the couch  
fabric.

"Yes. So...I suggest we be gentle with him..."

"I suggest, we keep it up until he breaks completely! Then that solves our little, conundrum, with leaving  
little bunny with our names, faces, and plans, I can NOT be the only one who thinks it's just- PERFECT!?"  
Mason stabbed the knife into the arm rest, standing up as he chuckled in wild disbelief.

  
Hannibal gently stood, moving a couch pillow under Will's curly hair and straightened his stance, pulling his  
leather jacket off his shoulders and folding it up before handing it to Matthew.

Mason recognized the threat loud and clear, raising his hands in surrender as he backed away from the living  
area. "Right, right, alright, I see, we've aDOPTED little Will now, I get it. I'll stand in the sidelines and watch your  
ill-equipped train, wreck itself, right before my eyes. Wont touch a hair on the cute lil' boy's fluffy head."

"No. That's not good enough, actually, Mason. I don't trust you...and that's not a good side of my opinion to  
be on. Matthew here knows that. He's reckless but only reckless to himself. You, on the other hand-  
you're reckless to everyone and everything around you. You're impulsive in the worst ways, especially  
for a sociopath. I'm not a fan of that. At all." Hannibal stepped forward, his eyes dark and heavy as he  
seemed to grow more terrifying than Matthew had seen him in a long, long time.

Mason sensed the danger in the air weighing down in the room, grinning wide as he laughed and  
pulled his knife from the couch arm.

"I hate to tell you, but I've got a secret you're going to want to hear before you make any rash decisions."  
Mason stammered with a chuckle, keeping the blade between him and Hannibal as the man loomed closer with  
predatory eyes locked on him.

"Mason, put the knife down before you hurt yourself...or...rather, it gets used against you."  
Matthew said with disinterest on his tone, already moved from the chair to where Hannibal had been seated  
to assume the task of comforting the boy with gentle strokes to his hair.

"Want a hint? It has to do with you're precious treasure hunt-" Mason was cut short when the knife was  
skillfully twisted and snatched from his hand, the blade pressing firm against his carotid artery as he huffed  
a shocked cackle of a laugh with hands held up in another surrender.

Hannibal stared into his smirking eyes with disgust on his scowl, twitching his cheek to a crooked smile.

"I promise you your secret isn't as worthy as what I feel for you, or your 'precious' name, Mr. Verger."

 

\---


	4. Adolescent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "He's not going to tell us. He's still battling his symptoms, but he did manage to tell me not  
> to go in 'the room'. Which means there is one, and there's something in it he doesn't want  
> us to see." Hannibal lowered to one knee and felt along the bottom edges of granite counter,  
> leaning over to inspect the area.
> 
> "He did? Oh, well, hell, naturally the proper response of a bunch of dim witted burglars like us  
> should do is just the opposite and fuckin' search it out, huh?" Matt scoffed and bit his lip nervously,  
> watching Mason and Hannibal examining the kitchen before looking back at the sheet of paper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm straying, lord, someone stop me :p

   

 

 

"Hannibal, I'd actually like to hear what he's talking about. He's a sneaky fuckin' prick, it might be important."  
Matthew cut in, looking up at the intimidating man with a slight plea in his eyes.

"C'mon, promise it's worth it doc, cross my little heart hoping, not, to die." Mason grinned and swallowed  
hard against the blade.

"We're listening then." Hannibal didn't budge, keeping the weapon in place.

"Right, okay, I understand that- gotta keep me in check I get that. Well, William here, he's actually got a  
neat little secret room hidden around here. What's absolutely WILD, is that I haven't been able to find  
it! Now, since we found his dusty old rabbit hole in the wall, I'm starting to think the boy has a much  
much bigger hole that leads to WONDERLAND."

Matthew and Hannibal both furrowed their brows at that, Matthew standing up after moving the pillow back  
under Will's head and approaching the two.

"What the hell are you talking about? Why should we believe you?"  
Matthew touched Hannibal's wrist gently, asking him quietly to lower the knife.

Hannibal shot a short disappointing glance at Matthew and did so, putting it in his pocket to keep  
it from Mason.

"I was going to save the information for myself to explore after offing the kid- again, plans change,  
no need to bully me over it any longer-, but I suppose I've been cornered into sharing. Let me show  
you a pretty picture, it's in my coat back at the front of the house- am I free to retrieve it gentlemen?"

"I'm not particularly interested. Matthew I'd be happy to find you another means of financial gain  
if you'd allow me to dispose of Mr. Verger here."

"Ah ah, let me show you before you get too hasty with ending our adventure?"  
Mason cut in before Matthew could answer.

"Go get it, hurry up." Matthew scowled, shoving him on to follow him through the house.

Hannibal rolled his eyes and stepped over to Will, crouching down to check his eyes.

"I wont let anything happen to you, William...if you can talk, or move...let me know. I'm right here."

Will blinked a few times, his shoulder twitching once before he managed to raise his eyes up to  
Hannibal's face.

"D-don't...go in the bad room..."

Hannibal tilted his head with a short squint.

Now he was interested.

\---

Mason and Matthew moved to the kitchen, Hannibal leaving Will on the couch as he  
joined them.

"See, this is a blue-print of Mr. Graham's home. One of my visits I noticed the home seemed  
to come to a stop, here in the kitchen between the hall and bathroom?" Mason pointed from  
the kitchen to the bathroom door down the hallway. Hannibal and Matthew glancing from  
the sheet to look and back.

"I'll make it simple for you, the house is bigger than the blue-print shows! So, this kitchen has  
had a little work done, hm? I haven't been able to figure out just where, but something in  
here is going to take us somewhere interesting and I am just ITCHING to find out what."

"So the kitchen is what..." Matthew began walking heel to toe in a line across the kitchen,  
stopping at the counter with searching eyes after counting the distance.

"-4 feet longer than the doodle says. What could you possibly hide in four feet of spare space?"

"A stairway? Maybe an elevator?" Hannibal muttered as he ran his fingers across the counter's edges slowly.

"A stairway. Okay. There's stairs under the kitchen, that's our new theory. Why not just ask the  
kid what this is all about? I feel bad but I'm kinda wondering-"

"He's not going to tell us. He's still battling his symptoms, but he did manage to tell me not  
to go in 'the room'. Which means there is one, and there's something in it he doesn't want  
us to see." Hannibal lowered to one knee and felt along the bottom edges of granite counter,  
leaning over to inspect the area.

"He did? Oh, well, hell, naturally the proper response of a bunch of dim witted burglars like us  
should do just the opposite and fuckin' search it out, huh?" Matt scoffed and bit his lip nervously,  
watching Mason and Hannibal examining the kitchen before looking back at the sheet of paper.

Mason paused and stood up straight, looking to Hannibal curiously.

"The boy spoke to you?"

"Mmhm..." Hannibal answered blandly, standing to feel around the top edges of counter now.

"And the three of us are just, dawdling about in the kitchen while he's alone all the way across the  
house?"

"He's not capable of moving at the moment, Mason- you're paranoia is getting quite tedious to  
listen to."

"I'll go check on him." Matthew sighed, folding the paper and bringing it with him as he left the kitchen.

\---

 

"Hey...you feelin' any better kiddo? I heard you talked to my friend a minute ago...wanna talk to me?"  
Matthew sat down in the chair in front of Will, touching his knuckle gently to the boy's cheek.

Will stared at him and blinked a few times before he finally managed a nod.

"Really? Good, that's awesome...uh...my name's Matt...if you didn't already figure that. Bet you think we're  
all a bunch of morons using our names and not wearing masks and all that, huh? Ha..that's uh...cause we didn't  
think you'd be here kid...ya surprised the shit out of us. Well, at least me and the old man."

Will remained silent, still watching Matthew's shy regretful demeanor in front of him. It was calming.

Matthew cleared his throat and chewed his lip for a moment.

"Well...uh, can I ask why you don't want us to go in whatever room you're talking about?"

"..it's...a bad room..."

Matthew raised his brows and pursed his lips, shocked to hear him answer, curious at the small childish tone.

"Here, I'm sure you're tired of laying down like this, let's sit you up, hm?"  
He stood and helped carefully move Will to sit upright in the corner of the couch, propping  
a pillow between the armrest and his bare torso.

"Blanket?"

Will shivered and nodded, watching as the man grabbed the throw and tucked it over his shoulders.

"Okay...so, why's this room a bad room? Is there something dangerous in it?"

A shaken head, no.

"..kayyy...is there something, illegal in it? Like painted money or bags?"

Another no.

Matthew sighed and thought.

"Something icky? Like, bugs or...rats, maybe smelly, like rotten meat?"

Will shifted his eyes from Matt's shoulder to his eyes for a second then back, a soft shrug.  
Matthew caught it and felt his nerves chill.

"...this room smells bad, okay...so, do you ever go down to it and try and fix the smell?"

He nods and shudders, managing to move his fingers and clench the blanket tighter.

"Are you afraid of the room, Will?"

"...one..of them.."

Matthew widened his eyes at that, a short scoff of disbelief.  
"One of them is scary, there's more than one room then...so, what's so scary about this one,  
maybe I can protect you from it, make it go away?"

He glanced up to see Hannibal approach and stop a few steps behind the couch, resting his  
hands in his pockets as he gestured for him to ignore his presence and continue. Mason  
remained in the kitchen searching for clues.

"I...don't want anyone to go to the rooms...they're not good rooms..."  
Will's eyes welled up in tears, a stifled sob as he began trembling again.

"Hey, hey hey- okay, here, take this, this is a pretty picture of your house, here,  
look at it and I'll be right back, just 30 seconds, you can count it if you want."  
Matt handed the blueprint to Will and brushed a quick stroke pushing the curly brown hair  
back from his brow for a second before he rounded the couch and lead Hannibal back a few steps.

"What's wrong with him, it's like he's suddenly 10 years old right now?"  
Matt hissed, glancing at the couch and back to Hannibal.

"...there's a chance he's been through a much deeper trauma than we're aware of. The over exposure from  
earlier likely triggered something that's caused his mind to regress to his adolescence...it's his symptoms  
trying to protect him from any further trauma. From what I've seen before, this seems a lot like..."

"Like what?"

"It's a lot like someone who was abused as a child. If the agoraphobia ran in the family it's possible whatever  
member had it used him as an outlet. Did we ever figure out if Mason knew just how his parent's both died  
when he was only 18?"

"...shit..do you think-"

"Matt?"

They both looked back to see Will turned in the couch looking at them with questioning eyes.

"Uh, yeah kid?"

"It's been over thirty seconds...." Will frowned and stared at him as he returned to the couch  
in front of him, crouching to a knee.

"Sorry about that...I won't break anymore promises, I'm not as great a counter as you are. I  
do have a question though, if you're up for it?"

"..okay..."

"How...um...what happened to your mom and pops, do you remember?"

Hannibal came over as well now, sitting in the chair beside Matthew as the man sat crouched  
at Will's eye level. Will shifted his eyes from Matthew to Hannibal, leaning a bit to see him better.  
Hannibal smiled sweetly at him and nodded. "It's okay William, we just want to know more about  
you, we're curious and would like to be friends. We'll tell you about us if you tell us about you,  
how's that for a deal, sweetheart?"

Will licked his lips and nodded after a few moments. "Okay..."

"Yeah? Good...okay, well...do you want to answer my question first or do you want me and Hanners  
to tell you something before you do?"

"..mm..." Will simply grunted, tearing small corners from the paper to distract himself.

"Alright...lets see...you got anything to tell, Hannibal?"

Hannibal chewed his lip for a second before speaking,  
"I don't like cats. Cat's like to cling to ankles. It's quite troublesome, like little clawed hunters."

Will scoffed, stifling a short giggle as he looked up from the paper and nodded at Hannibal.

Matthew turned to look at the grinning man over his shoulder in confusion, then back to Will.  
"You agree with him I see, ha...so, your turn, if you're ready."

"Mom and Dad just went away. I don't know where, uncle Neal didn't tell me where."

"Uncle Neal? Where's Uncle Neal now?"  
Matt glanced at Hannibal, a small fear in his eyes that someone could show up at any moment.  
Will didn't respond, frowning as he tore more bits from the paper.

"William, honey...where's you're Uncle Neal?"  
Hannibal tried now, leaning forward with his forearms on his thighs.

"...with mom and dad."

\---

Matthew paced the kitchen shaking his head as he rubbed his jaw nervously.  
Hannibal leaned against the counter across from Mason on the other counter.

"I don't like this dude, I'm pretty sure we need to quit looking for these 'rooms' and get  
the hell out of here, something's not right. This kid, he's got some more issues than just  
being fuckin' scared of the outdoors. I get that he was probably beat up or god forbid fuckin  
touched up as a kid but for gods sake, I'm starting to think mom, pop, and uncle Neal are  
still in this fucking house and I don't want to smell what 6 year old corpses smell like."  
Matt laughed sarcastically, throwing his hands in the air with a disbelieving shrug.

"You're reaching pretty far with that theory Matthew-"

"No no, I like this, I really do actually, do you know what this means!? Little bunny isn't a bunny after all!"  
Mason clapped his hands together as he bit his lip excitedly.

"It means, he's the FOX, you see? Poor dear probably knew that, oh say, big ol' uncle Neal killed mommy  
and daddy- and scared little rabbit saw him take them to his secret lair under ground! After so long,  
likely suffering horrible, god awful abuse from the brute, he was too scared to say a word about it, hm?  
So then, when sweet Will finally comes to his senses and gets the GUTS to stand up for himself, he  
evolves. The hare becomes a snare. He kills the big scary man and hides him to rot with his own  
evil-doing down below!" Mason bit his lip as he nodded through his assumed explanation. 

"...are you insane? The kid is scared to step foot outside, even before he was terrorized into acting  
like an actual child by YOUR psycho ass he wears Disney pajama's and collects comic strips, doesn't  
know how to handle, manage, or spend money- which by the way is who I assume is this 'fancy  
dressed woman' you often saw Hannibal, she's probably a lawyer or some shit trying to keep  
his finances in check or some shit! He's harmless!" Matt spat through his furious rant. 

"I'm not insane, but now I'm thinking little Will actually IS, ha! I failed to mention the death certificates  
were dubbed 'death in ABSENTIA', which means they gave up searching for the two and decided they  
had to be deceased wherever they were. That was made official when he was 18, they had been missing  
since he was 13!"

"I'm getting fucking sick of you telling us shit only when it's convenient for you to open your trap,  
you're full of shit, Mason, this is getting way too out of hand and I'm about done dude."

"No...I think Mason might actually be right about this, Matthew."

Matt snapped his eyes to him wide in shock.

"You're joking. Why. What makes you believe that heap of trash!?"

"Trust me...it makes every bit of sense compared to what I've dealt with in my years being a psychiatrist."

"This is riveting! I couldn't have expected a more exciting night even if-"  
Mason was cut short when Matt held up a hand, looking down at his feet with a curious expression.

"Guys..." Matthew slid his shoe a bit to the right, scrunching his brows together as he stared  
at the floorboards.

"Did anyone notice the wood changes colour from here?"

Hannibal squinted at it and stepped away from the darker wood onto the lighter side toward the hall,  
Mason standing on the edge of the darker as he crouched down to examine it.

"...ohhhh, I've seen something like this before, quite an expensive trap door I believe." Mason smiled  
as he ran his fingers across the cracks.

"I'm sorry, a fucking WHAT?"  
  
Just at that moment, the floor craned, the sound of metal scraping and snapping hard beneath  
their feet with a muffled thud.

"What the shi-"

Matthew and Mason both startled when the floor suddenly dropped from under them, Hannibal surged  
forward and grabbed Matthew's fingers before he fell through, Mason disappearing into the dark shadows  
with flailing limbs.

"FUCK, PULL ME UP!" Matt cried, his fingers slipping out of his glove  
half a second before Hannibal could grab for his wrist.

"Shit!" Hannibal cursed and dropped to his knees, leaning over to watch as Matthew dropped into the  
dark with an echoed shout. He cringed when he heard a heavy thud, Matthew's painful grunt in the dark  
at the same time of Mason's louder scream followed by psychotic agonized laughter.

"Matthew, are you alright?!"

"I'M FUCKIN PEACHY, I THINK MY ASS BROKE MASON'S HIP!"  
"THE FALL BROKE MY LEG BUT I'M HAPPY TO ADMIT MY HIP IS FINE."  
"HOW THE HELL IS YOUR HIP FINE, I'M PRETTY SURE IT WENT IN MY ASSHOLE FOR A FUCKING SECOND!?"  
"I HAVE PROMINENT SHARP HIPS, AND IF IT DID I'M SAD TO SAY I DIDN'T ENJOY IT AS MUCH AS I'D WANT TO."  
"YOU'RE FUCKIN' GROSS."

Hannibal rolled his eyes and stood up looking around. "I'll be right back."

"BACK, WHERE YOU GOING!? GET US OUTTA HERE!!"

\---

Hannibal frowned and sighed at the empty couch and dropped blanket- the entire paper torn to shreds  
scattered across the floor.

"So it begins..." He muttered  with a smirk, picking up the one larger piece torn around the kitchen.

\---


	5. Under the Stairs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Alright...what's this you've got now?"  
> "It's for you to talk to your friend Mr. Matthew, I'm too nervous to talk on it and I'm afraid he's mad at me for  
> putting him down there with the rabbit man on accident." 
> 
> Hannibal smiled and shook his head, "He's not mad at you but I'll do the talking if you want. What  
> do I need to tell him to do, William?"
> 
> "Uhm, tell him not to go in the right door...he should close it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I'm confusing myself, feel free to point out mistakes,  
> I've been frustrated thinking about where I'm going with this for  
> like 4 days. 
> 
> *sweats nervously*

  

 

 

 

  
Matthew groaned as he stood up, wincing in pain as he stretched his back.

"How bad's your leg?" He asked, unable to see anything in the pitch black area. Only a dim glow from  
the opening about 15 feet above to see the kitchen ceiling tiles.

"I'm going to say a solid 10 out of 10 on definitely broken- but a 6 on pain because I've broken several  
before. Boy, how much you wanna bet the child isn't on his precious little couch anymore? Probably found   
his way to, oh, I don't know, a fancy ol' switch somewhere to trap me down here?"

"Yeah yeah, you're quite the victim. I'm down here too if you didn't notice."

"Ah huh, yes but you were JUST about off the area. You practically had one foot out before it opened,  
didn't you?"

"Yeah? So? Why didn't he wait till I was all the way off it if it was just about you then, hm?"

"I got a little too close to leaving it! Ha, I started to look at it too and he knew he'd lose the   
opportunity if he waited too long and risked the timing! You were almost saved by the doctor,  
if you weren't wearing such cheap gloves you wouldn't be down here and my hip wouldn't   
be preparing a nasty bruise!"

"How the hell would he have seen where we were, the kitchen is way too far away from the couch  
and if he was watching us I'm sure we would have noticed."

"Ah-" Mason paused to cringe as he scooted up to lean on the wall. "He probably has some sort  
of security system we haven't seen...likely in one of his hidden little fox holes somewhere. "

"Y'know...I don't want to hear your theories anymore but the scary fact that you've been right   
about way too much has me cornered to thinking you're right. This kid is full of surprises, I'll tell you  
that for sure..." Matt huffed.

"Good- now start feeling around for a light switch then, would you dear?"

"Uh huh.." Matt grunted, running his hands along the shadows against the wall slowly up and down  
as he went.

\---

Hannibal did a quick once over through the winding floor looking for Will, stopping in the  
kitchen when he reached it again.

"How are things going down there?" He asked, leaning over as he squinted at the dark area.

"Eh? Trying to find a-" Matthew's shout was cut off with a flinch when dark orange lights suddenly flickered on  
around the room, illuminating the cement surroundings and dingy cracking floor.

"...light switch..." Matthew finished, straightening back up after half-ducking the surprise.

"I see you found it, anything interesting to see Matthew?" Hannibal crouched down now to see just Mason's  
waist to toes and Matthew step under the hole to look up at him.

"Uh, I didn't find a switch. They just came on their own. There's um, there's two big metal doors- guys I'm  
not even kidding now, I'm not ready for some fuckin' Saw 7 shit, there's a camera in the top corner. I never  
liked those damn movies, they're set up for failure like 80% of the time! Plus with Mason as a team mate,  
he's already fucking useless not to mention broken, I'd be screwed, get me the fuck outta here." Matthew began  
to panic, laughing sarcastically to hide his confusion and frustration.

"Now that's an interesting new idea-" Mason started with a raised brow.

"NO- shut up, don't you DARE try and convince me the kid is a real life Jigsaw or so help me fucking God."  
Matthew snapped at Mason with a pointing finger, warning him to abandon his train of thought.

"Calm down Matthew, they're either motion activated or the boy turned them on for you. I'm going to find  
him. I'll give you something for Mason's leg first, if I can't find him I'll find a ladder or something like it. Be patient."

Hannibal stepped over to the dinning room and broke the legs from an old weakened chair, pulling the tape from  
his tool-bag and tossing the items down along with a flashlight for Matthew to catch.

"Do I snap it back in place or just tape it up!?"

"Feel for the bone, it'll be an unnatural lump under the skin, use your common sense as to what angle and how  
much pressure you need to use, realign it and tape the wood on either side of where you had to push."

"Right, okay, I'm ready for the nightmares- here Mason, bite on my flashlight or something, I don't really know  
what the fuck I'm doing." Matthew sighed as he prepared the process.

Hannibal couldn't help but smirk when he heard the crack echo from the floor followed by Mason's muffled   
screaming, the shout diving into pained laughter after a few moments.

\---

Hannibal pouted for a moment, looking out the window as the soft faint light of daylight started to form  
behind the dark night clouds. Straightening his leather jacket and checking his pockets for the two feld blades,  
he started back through the house, going upstairs this time.

He spent a while treading lightly before he actually started to call for Will.

"William, I'm not going to hurt you, and you're not in any trouble. I understand why you'd want Mason out  
of the picture, he's not a very friendly man. Come out, dear." Hannibal stood in the middle of what he was sure  
had to be Will's bedroom, his hands in his pants pockets as he studied the mess of comic books, textbooks and papers.   
A shelf beside the bed had a row of action figures lined across the top, the shelves below filled with college level  
textbooks on multiple subjects.

He smiled when a small creak squeaked from inside the closet. Turning gently on his heel he leaned over a bit to  
see the boy push the sliding door to the side, his curly head poking out from a hole in the floor of the closet.

Will toyed with a small remote as he stood only past his shoulders out of the opening, his big blue eyes shifting from  
Hannibal's shoes to his face with a curious expression.

"There's my sneaky little pup...you've got quite a few interesting hiding spots around here, thank you for coming out  
before I got too worried. Would you like to show me what kind of toys you've got down there?" Hannibal stepped forward,  
taking his hands out of his pockets as he crouched down at eye level with the boy.

"As long as you don't try and let the rabbit man out?"

"Rabbit man...Mason? You remember him calling you a rabbit?"

"I donno...I'm kinda starting to remember stuff, I remember him hurting me and saying he was going to hurt me worse. I don't  
like him. He also said I have rabbit holes. They're not rabbit holes, they're my safe spaces. Well, some of them.   
You can see, come on." Will climbed back down and Hannibal followed down with a bit of struggle through the  
tight spot.

"...this is under the stairs." Hannibal muttered to himself after dropping from the small ladder. A stack of 6 computers  
sat on a small desk, the area was narrow but about the size of a typical home's master-bathroom, the stairs being wide  
enough to be considered two sets allowed for the space.

"Yeah, neat huh? I can see inside and outside with the buttons and stuff. Look-"  
Will sat on the stool in front of the computers, Hannibal hovering over his shoulder as he watched the  
screens flicker and change after each button he pushed on a keyboard.

He raised a brow as he studied them, the black and white images of the front porch, the room   
with Matt and Mason, the kitchen, living room, and two black screens.

"What are these two supposed to show, William?"

"I don't have the lights on in those rooms, I don't like those."  
Will chewed his lip and sighed, staring at the dark images.

"Why not?"

"Why? Cause I don't have to go in them anymore, I'm not a stupid doll anymore."  
Will clicked a button, the camera zooming in on Matthew as he stood with his back against the wall,  
hands in pockets staring up at the lens.

"...a doll, William? Did someone make you play pretend when you didn't want to?"

"I'm not supposed to talk about it. We should get Matt out and lock the rabbit man down there,  
I'm getting tired and I need to take my medicine." Will pushed three keys at the same time, stretching  
his fingers over the board before letting them go.

Hannibal frowned at the shirtless boy and watched the screen Will focused on, Matthew startling away  
from the wall as the large metal doors popped an inch open. Only one of the black screens lit up.

Are one of those going to lead Matthew out?"

"Mmhm...he has to go through the bad room and you're going to have to go outside to unlock it  
for him. You gotta go down into the storm shed outside and move a really heavy metal shelf to see  
the door."

"How do you know it leads outside with your illness, dear?"

"I tried to leave that way before...I pushed open the upside-down doors and only lasted a few   
seconds before I climbed back down the steps, I got really dizzy and couldn't see for a long   
while. It got really cold and I fell asleep in the shed. You should wear your jacket when you   
go down there." Will wiggled his nose and picked up a walkie-talkie looking device from   
beside the computers.

Hannibal furrowed his brows and thought on what Will had said, possibly reffering to an attempt  
to escape whatever horrors took place in this bad room.

"Alright...what's this you've got now?"

"It's for you to talk to your friend Mr. Matthew, I'm too nervous to talk on it and I'm afraid he's mad at me for  
putting him down there with the rabbit man on accident." Will looked up at Hannibal with sad  
eyes, pursing his bottom lip out a bit as he held the device out to him.

Hannibal smiled and shook his head, "He's not mad at you but I'll do the talking if you want. What  
do I need to tell him to do, William?"

"Uhm, tell him not to go in the right door...he should close it cause it's really smelly and stuff...my  
buttons open both of them when I push it so I couldn't just choose one."

Hannibal nodded and clicked the button on the side before he spoke.

\---

"Well? What's in door number one?" Mason asked from the floor, leaning over a bit to see in the  
dim fluorescent lit room Matthew wandered around in.

"A god fucking awful smell that I told everyone earlier I didn't want to have to ever fucking smell,  
a metal table type slab thing sticking out of the wall, nothin' on it, and what looks very much like  
a fridge possibly filled with dead body parts." Matthew frowned as he leaned over and inspected  
the thick rusting deadbolt on the dusty fridge.

"Wonderful! See any sign of a key to peek at the treasure?"

"Scuse me? You think the boy hid the money with a dead body in a fridge?"

"BodieS, possibly, and why not?"

"I wouldn't open this fucking thing even if there was a million bucks in it."

Matthew flinched and ducked when there was a harsh static and click that echoed loud in the underground  
area, looking up with wild confusion as he stood back straight.

("Matthew- William says you should leave the room you're in and close the door.")

"I knew it, he finally did it- the doctor has ascended to another plane of being, he's God now."  
Mason chuckled as he watched Matthew step out still curious and confused.

"Kid has a whole speaker system rigged up in the place- that's cool. How do we talk back so   
I can tell him I'll kiss his ass for the rest of my life if he doesn't put me in a fridge?"

\---

"Matthew looks like he wants to speak back, is there a way for him to talk to us from down there, dear?"

"No, this is so I can talk to people outside so I don't have to open the front door...they speak into a   
button out there but that's the only one. I need to take my medicine and those make me sleepy,   
I don't wanna see him go through the bad room anyway...can you get him out and promise me   
the rabbit man is going to stay down there?" Will stood from the stool, rubbing his eye before  
looking at Hannibal with a curious look.

"Of course, come, let's get you those medications and some shut eye, I'll handle the rest of everything  
and maybe have some breakfast ready for you when you wake up?"

Will perked up at that, smiling with a satisfied nod.

"Good boy- I'll let him kno~" Hannibal stilled when Will suddenly lifted on his bare toes to peck a quick  
kiss on the man's cheek and hurried up the ladder to his bedroom.

Hannibal blinked a few times before smirking, touching his fingers to the slightly wet spot as he clicked  
the radio back on. "Give me a few minutes to put William to sleep, Matthew, he needs medication."

\---

"Really? Okay, fuck me right, damn. I'll just chill down here with a few dead bodies and an injured  
sociopath. This is exactly what I planned for night. I'm never listening to him again."

"I was under the impression it was YOU who went to HIM with the idea to rob someone so you weren't  
very, hm, talented, with the skills he bears?"

"YEAH WELL, it's a good damn thing he's not a gambler cause he has a lousy fucking sack of luck with picking  
a winning card, now shut the fuck up." Matt snarled at Mason who rolled his eyes in return.

"Quit stalling and see what's behind door number two, would you?"

  
Matt pushed the heavy door open and froze in the doorway.

"...ohh, boy."

The light above was a dim orange, a metal desk centered against a wall across from the entry  
with a wood chair pushed in. A computer sat on one end of the desk, and a medium boxed tv  
with a VHS player attached to it sat on the other end.

Beneath the desk next to the chair's legs was a large cardboard box sloppily closed with dented  
corners and torn worn edges.

Above the desk was a long single pane of glass window the length of the whole wall and up,   
whatever on the other side covered in dark shadows.

"You gotta come see this..." Matt said with a bland tone, stepping back out to help Mason stand.  
He struggled as the man limped with him into the room, grunting as he was placed in the chair  
with a painful huff.

"Interesting set up...what's in the box?"

"...tons of VHS tapes with weird labels...some of them look like kiddie handwriting and some  
of them are like cursive and shit."

"Hmm..wonder how we turn the light on in our little bonus mystery room?" Mason asked as he  
studied to monitors and walls around him.

"Maybe if-"

Matthew stopped when the lights suddenly flashed on behind the glass, his eyes widening when   
he saw the insides.

"Oh my." Mason chuckled and covered his mouth.

Hannibal stood in the other room with a hand on a switch beside the door he had just stepped through.  
He looked curious as he looked around the new discovery. It was a moderately sized bedroom set up,   
a queen sized bed covered in satin and lace sheets with a pastel patterned butterfly comforter made  
tidy on the mattress as thin see through creme curtains draped down from tall white wooden bedposts.

The walls were decorated with soft pink paint and framed pictures of animals, a tall chestnut wardrobe  
and matching bedside tables the only other furniture besides a long dresser matching the length and   
placement of the metal desk they sat opposite of.

"How the fuck did you get in there?!" Matthew shouted in confusion, standing up from digging in the  
box of VHS's.

Hannibal stepped over to the dresser and picked up a dusty tube of lipstick, setting it down to   
run his fingers across the wood before he stopped and looked directly at them through the  
glass, quirking his head a bit with a raised brow.

"Can he not hear me?"

\---

Hannibal stared into the large long lengthened mirror framed in intricately detailed thick gold, tilting  
his head slightly as he noticed the strange thickness to the dusty glass.

He knocked on it four times in a 'ratatat' rhythm, scoffing when Matthew finished the beat with the  
last two knocks from the other side of the mirror. "One way glass...interesting touch..." Hannibal  
smirked and shook his head as he ran his eyes around the room again.

"Now how did you get from there to here, Mr. Neal..." He muttered, searching the walls beside the mirror  
with his hands.

\---

"Shit...one way glass, he can't see us."

"There has to be a way to get from in here to in there." Mason said as he turned on the two monitors.

"...the wall is different under the desk, the room is cement but- oh shit." Matt dropped back down and pulled the box of tapes  
out, banging his knuckles on the hardwood pannel. Mason watched as Hannibal heard the knock and stepped back over.

"It won't budge-!"

"Try sliding it to the side instead of pushing, boy." Mason said as he leaned over in the chair to watch.

"Oh," Matt gasped when it scraped and dragged aside into the wall, raising his brows when he was face to face  
with Hannibal who held up the false front of the dresser.

"Why hello there, long time no see." Hannibal smiled as Matt grinned and backed up to allow him in.

\---


	6. Home Movies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ("My name is Will, I'm ten, aaand my Dad got me a camera for my birthday to make, um, like a real life diary. But, diaries are for people with secrets I think...I don't have any secrets so I thought I could just make mini movies for fun! I'm gonna call it Will's World, cause it sounds right, y'know?")

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Put me in the ground and pelt me with stones.
> 
> Just do it. I made myself drunk-sad writing this.  
> Punish me. Please. *tries to act tough*
> 
> *is so sorry*

    

 

 

Hannibal stood and dusted his knees off from crawling through the low space, running his hand  
through his loose bangs with a sigh.

"Lovely of you to join us doctor." Mason huffed with a short laugh.

"How the hell did you get in there? Where's the kid?"

"William is sleeping on the couch, his medication put him out quickly he hadn't gotten a chance  
to explain in detail to me how to get through the area to you. I see you've helped yourselves  
into his things? What is this?" Hannibal turned from inspecting the blank lit screens to look  
at the box of tapes before leaning over to the keyboard.

He pushed a few buttons he had seen Will hit and the computer monitor flicked to a split screen  
of a few squares showing various parts of the home and outside.

"Uh, yeah, we didn't get very far with it- how'd you know how to do that?"  
Matt scrunched his brows together and stepped closer to see the square with Will sleeping  
soundly bundled on the couch.

"There's a setup much like it under the stairs, what are the cassettes?"

"Huh? Didn't watch anything, honestly don't think we wanna, now that I see the um...other room."

"Little William certainly didn't have a little sister as far as I figured out~" Mason added with a chuckle.

"Could you not laugh at that? Cause I'm seriously considering letting Hannibal loose on your ass."

Hannibal smirked as Mason quieted quickly, leaning over to pick a tape from the box and popped it  
in the VCR connected to the TV.

"-or we could watch one, fuck it...you're a curious doctor, I get it." Matt mumbled as he leaned against  
the chair edge Mason sat in.

"Oh goodie, movie night~" Mason chimed with a smile.

"What was that one labeled, was it the kiddie scribble or the cursive?"  
Matthew asked as Hannibal pressed play and turned the volume up.

"Scribbled, 'me and dad'." Hannibal answered, his eyes focused on the screen as it fizzled  
and cleared up a moving faded coloured image.

"Oh.."

\---

 

  
_Will sat in front of the camera, about 10 or 11 years old, his curls long and wild touching just past his thin bare shoulders. He laughed as he tried to adjust the lens, the picture blurring and focusing a few times till it cleared. His grin was wide and glowing, a single canine tooth missing from the pearly smile._

_He plopped down in a bean bag chair and licked his lips before speaking._

_("My name is Will, I'm ten, aaand my Dad got me a camera for my birthday to make, um, like a real life diary. But, diaries are for people with secrets I think...I don't have any secrets so I thought I could just make mini movies for fun! I'm gonna call it Will's World, cause it sounds right, y'know?")_

_Will stopped, looking just past the camera with bright blue eyes and parted lips._

_("Breakfast will be ready soon Will...oh, is this diary time? My bad..didn't think you'd be using it so early after just getting it yesterday.")_

_("No Daddy, I'm making MINI MOVIES, it's WILL'S WORLD! I'm gonna do all my impressions and stuff, not a diary!")_

_("Right I forgot, sorry, that sounds fun Willy. I gotta head to work real soon though, I'd like to have breakfast with you before I do? It's gonna be a long day again. Come on.")_

_("Okay, can you bring me home some more tapes in case I use these up by tomorrow?")_

_Wills father laughed and stepped into view from the waist down, straining as he picked Will up in his arms and fumbled with the camera._

_("You've got a box full of them kiddo, if you use all those up by tomorrow I'm sending them to Hollywood for a 6 part movie series. I'll make them keep the name, it suites you. Will's world.")_

_Will giggled and twisted in his fathers arms, hanging upside down when he noticed him struggling to figure out the camera operations with one hand._

_His curls fell as he swung in the strong arms, mimicking a monkey with rib scratches and chimp noises before grinning into the lens when his father laughed at his silliness- then reached around with his thin arms to turn it off._

\--

"That was so sweet I may vomit." Mason said as he cleared his throat and watched Hannibal eject the tape to put another in.

"His dad seems nice..." Matthew scratched at his head with a frown, dreading what had to be a gradual decline in  
positive video sets.

"What's that one?"

"His writing again...labeled 'dinner'."

\---

_The screen lights back up, a sunny day beaming through the windows as the camera shook and straightened in Will's hands facing himself._

_("Welcome back to Will's World! Mom made tealpa for dinner-")_  
_("Tilapia, Will...") Will's mom said quietly across the table. Her hair was dark and long, lazily pinned up in a messy nest of a bun ontop of her head. She was pale and skinny like Will, bags under her green eyes as she stared down at her plate- poking the food with a fork._

 _("Oh, tilapia, sorry mum...mum?")_  
_She looks up from her distant thoughts and blinks at Will, her eyes shifting to the lens then past it to Will a few times before giving him a sad smile._

 _("Yeah sweetie?")_  
_("You should come make videos with me so you're not so sad all the time...I know it gets boring, but I can make it better...I wish the outside didn't make us sick, then I'd take you out on picnics and stuff.")_  
_Will sat the camera down on the table and padded around to his mom, hugging her arm as she leaned over to kiss his curls._

\--

"Shit, you were close to being right...it WAS a family member but it wasn't the piece of shit who hurt on him, it was his mom...they both can't go outside." Matthew chewed his lip and stared at the woman, beautiful in such a sad state. He could imagine himself stepping in to hold the depressed woman's gentle face- to tell her everything was going to be okay as long as she had that precious little boy by her side. He could imagine Will with the same lonely expression, sitting at the same table alone in his older age with no one else at the table with him, stripped of his loving parent's presence. 

His heart ached at the thought.

"It affected him much earlier than I thought too..." Hannibal said with a frown, staring at the screen as he tilted his head at the sweet gesture and  
comforting words the young boy used to cheer up his mother.

\---

_("That's very sweet of you darling...eat your dinner. Uncle Neal is coming by soon with some new supplies. Don't waste your tape on me. Go now, love.")_

_Will pouted and stood on his tip toes to kiss his mothers cheek, skipping back to his seat. The tape whirred and went black, then static before resuming later in the day._

_Will ran to the door, aiming the camera at his mom as she unlocked it and walked away down the hall, gently pushing Will along with her as he tried to record the outside when the door opened._  
_("William step back you know you get dizzy if you stand too close...")_

_("Hi Uncle Neal~ I'm making a movie, wanna be in it?")_

_A tall slender but taut man in a suit stepped down the hall with a brown paper bags in his arms. His hair black and slicked in a professional side comb with black rimmed glasses over his dark brown eyes. Will toyed with the zoom on his face as he smiled down at him walking to the kitchen._

_("Oh? Sounds fun! I'd love to be an extra, when's my close up?") The man grinned as he sat the bags down on the counter._

_("I'm doing it right now! You're starring on Will's World!") Will giggled when the man gasped and made a funny face, turning the aim to his mom when she rounded the counter holding a dark blue shawl draped around her shoulders. She planted a small greeting kiss to the man's cheek before looking in the bags._

_("Will, Neal got you some new shampoo and conditioner, it's late, why don't you go take your bath and try them out. I'll be right up to help comb your curls and bring your medication...") She sounded tired as she helped Neal unload the bags, her eyes heavy as she glanced at Will and the camera he held._

_("Hey, I can take care of him, you look really tired Olivia...you should get some sleep. Here, I got you this fancy tea from Whole Foods, some scrawny kid with a piece of metal in his eyebrow told me it's supposed to help for better sleep. I'll brew you a cup and bring it up to you, go on.")_

_Will was quiet as he tried to zoom in on Neal's face as close as he could, then doing the same to his mom as she sighed and nodded. "Here we have Uncle Neal being a hero for mommy, she really likes sleep."_

_("I'm a hero huh? Sounds like someone's hinting that they wanna stay up and watch a superhero movie. What movie is it this time?")_

_("Yes sir, indeed I do, I wanna watch Iron Giant again.") Will turned the camera around to himself and nodded, ("Uncle Neal always brings the best movies for me.")_

_("Get your butt to the bathroom and we'll see. Keep it down so your mom can sleep, hm? I'll be right there after I get her tea.")_  
_Will shook the camera in a silent nod and turned it off. The tape ending there._

  
\---

"So this guy's our guy huh?.." Matt twitched his nose with a scowl. 

"Love the suit." Mason said with pursed lips.

"You would...let's risk this one....try, 'tired'. Matthew handed Hannibal one from the box,  
the kids writing even sloppier on the white label.

\---

  
_Will looked into the camera, seated on the edge of his bedside as the room was dark but glowing with soft blue projected stars and planets all over the room._

_He licked his lips and glanced over the camera, adjusting the stand a second before sighing and rubbing his nose with the back of his wrist. He sniffles once and looks back to the lens. His big blue eyes were watery and tired, a deep flushed rose red heated on his pale clear cheeks._

_("I um..haven't made a movie in a while, like, a few months but, I'm bored...I can't sleep...mum isn't doing really good and daddy is still always working so long.")_

\--

"Few months, where'd his hair go, he had it down almost past his shoulders, now it's up at his **ears** , who cut it?" Matthew furrowed his brows as he paused the tape, pulling the box out from under the table and digging through the films furiously.

Hannibal watched his friend, curious over his suddenly triggered his outburst over the simple hair change.

"He has gorgeous lushious locks, but I hardly think there's a tape-" Mason started, stopping when Matt slapped his  
hand to the metal table and stood back up.

"Got it...it's either cut, or cutting, gamble for me and pick." Matthew held up the two tapes and huffed through a slow rising adrenaline.

Mason blinked a few times and rolled his eyes when he could tell Matthew was growing dangerously upset about the discovery, gesturing his hand at 'cut'.

Hannibal nodded in agreement, resting his hands in his pockets as the younger man hurried to change it.

"Right. Ok." Matt swapped the tapes and waited as it started.

\---

_Will walked up to his mom as she sat on the couch with a cup of tea in hand, the woman lifting her eyes when she noticed Will sit on the small rounded ottoman in front of her._

_("William, what did you do to your lovely hair..why did you do this?!") She sat her teacup down to the lamp side table and hurried off the couch, taking the camera from Will and setting it on the couch just angled as it tipped in the crease to show her drop to her knees and run her fingers through a choppy uneven mess of curls._

_("I don't wanna look like a girl anymore...so I tried to get rid of it so I don't.")_

_("What? Will hun oh, I thought you liked having your long hair, everyone adores them, no one ever mocked you for them- in fact they were quite jealous any time they dropped by...")_

_(" I don't CARE! I fixed it, I'm not a girl anymore!") Will shouted in her face, a sudden barrage of tears spilling down his red cheeks as he sobbed. She seemed stunned and confused, holding the thin boy's shoulders beneath a grey hair covered PlayStation t-shirt._

_("...okay honey, here, go bring me the scissors and the brush and comb, will you? I'll fix it up and make it nice and neat for you darling...be careful with them, remember, pointing away from you when you walk...")_

_Will returned, still sniffling as she nestled her knees around him on the ottoman, humming a soothing tune to calm him as she combed and trimmed his curls._  
  
_A door slammed shut somewhere in the house in the recording._

_Will jolted, Olivia gasping when he did- ("Will you can't jump like that when I'm holding sharp things near your head, don't do that.") She smacked a gentle hand to his thigh as his gym shorts rose up in his seated position._

_He stared at someone off camera passing through, his bright wide eyes following the person with fear._

_("You're Uncle hasn't been in a great mood lately, don't worry about him...he's just trying too hard to keep us safe and taken care of. Your father is paying him to build those neat little tunnels and hiding spots around the house, have you been having fun exploring those?") She leaned over a bit with a soft smile as she combed her fingers through his shortened curls._

_("...I did at first, I'm bored of them now....why do we need them, the house is big enough to be two farm houses and a shed, it doesn't make sense to make secret places...")_

_("Well, sweetie, with the way you and I get sick when we go outside, it makes it difficult to feel safe inside with no where to go if there's ever any trouble. The hiding spots are for family only though okay, don't tell any of daddy's work friends if they come over, ok?")_

_("...it should be just for me and you, I coulda built it for you..")_

_Olivia paused her combing and pulled him back into her arms, stroking the curvy short bangs back from his forehead to lean and look up into her eyes._

_("It'll be just for me and you then William...") she whispered, almost too quiet to hear as she pressed a kiss to his brow and returned to evening his locks._

\---

Hannibal popped the tape and looked at Matthew.

"What are you betting, uncle's already showed young William what he really wants the hiding spots for?"

"...yeah. Son of a bitch started grooming him and the kid is trying to defend himself the only way he can think of."  
Matthew sighed and rubbed his cheek to fight a permanent scowl.

"Mr. Neal likes them pretty in pink."  
Mason added, turning his gaze from the screen to the frilly lace decorated bed in the next room.

Hannibal put in another, cursive labeled 'finished'.

\---

_The recording wasn't by Will this time, the tall man behind the camera paced around the finished product of the secret underground bedroom. The decorations fresh and dust free._

_This went on in detail, admiring each doll, toy, picture and pillow around the room._

_The second room with a fridge full of food and snacks beside a table of folded fresh laundry._

_Neal ghosted his hand over everything he focused the camera on._

\---

Mason ticked his tongue, "Such attention to detail. Not enough on the boy- he's going to hate it." Mason muttered as Matthew shook his head and Hannibal put another in labeled 'ungrateful'.

\---

_The camera turned on, the man adjusting the lens and propping it on the tripod in front center of the room._

_He turned to the right corner and reached his hand out to what looked like a 13 year old Will now, huddled in the corner staring up at him with fearful eyes._

_("You look beautiful William, stand up so I can make a movie of you.")_  
  
_Neal took Will's hand and stood him up, revealing his outfit to be a pair of lace hip hugging panties and a flat matching bra of thinner cream lace._

 _When the image became clearer as they stepped closer, Neal sitting Will on the front edge of the bed,_  
_he stepped away to retrive something from the bedside drawer, giving focused view of Will's tear streaked face._

 _A harsh red splatter of blood stood out on his pale neck, the pattern splashed up and across the flushed cheek and over_  
_the bridge of his nose as he shivered and stared at the mirror behind the camera with wide eyes full of shock._

_Neal returned and blocked the view of him, using a rag to gently wipe the blood from the boy's skin._

_("I'm sorry you walked in on that sweetheart, you're mommy and I got in a little fight after she got nosey and found our_  
_little dollhouse...but it's okay now. I know you're upset but I'll make you feel alot better in a little bit, hm?")_

_("Y-you hurt her, she needs help, pl-please let me go help my mommy Uncle Neal...")_

_("She's okay dear, she's in the next room sleeping it off- remember when you hurt your ankle jumping down the_  
_stairs and you had to stay in bed for a few days? It was all better then, wasn't it? That's what mommy is doing.")_

 _("No, you hurt her real bad! My ankle wasn't cut or bleeding Uncle Neal, please! I don't want to play pretend_  
_anymore, I want to go be with my mommy! I want to be with Mom!") Will tried to stand, gasping when_  
_the man grabbed his shoulders and threw him back onto the bed._

 _("You're being ungrateful, William-") Neal snarled furiously as he twisted the writhing boy sideways across the_  
_bed with one hand gripping his still blood spattered throat, the red smudged on his cheeks as he clawed at_  
_the man's strong arms._

 _Will inhaled sharply when the hand left his neck and forced him over to his stomach on the wrinkling comforter,_  
_shouting for him to let him go as the lace underwear was yanked down to his knees._

\---

"Jesus fucking Christ-" Matthew started, his eyes wide in horror as he stared at the recorded assault.

"-he is, not, gentle..." Mason added quietly, the speakers of the tv crackling when Will's screams grew louder  
and harsher as the man began to rape him without an ounce of sympathy or compassion.

"HANNIBAL-"

Hannibal reacted in no-time, stopping the tape with a heavy sigh as he rested his knuckles on the table  
to contain his building anger.

"I'm fucking glad the kid killed him himself, otherwise I'd be huntin' the bastard down myself right fucking  
now." Matt growled, sitting on the ground to bury his face in his hands.

Hannibal frowned down at him and cleared his throat.

"...we should watch one more...the latest time-date stamp...when the tapes end. See what it is."  
Hannibal suggested, turning to the box.

Matt nodded in his hands with a shaky shudder, huffing as he joined him to start pulling all the tapes out.

They spent almost 20 minutes organizing the VHS's, spreading them across the floor in rows as Mason  
kept an eye on the security monitor screen.

Hannibal insisted on separating the one's with Will's handwriting from Neal's cursive label's.

Matthew didn't question it, sure he felt the same way about it as well.

They couldn't help but want the innocent home movies to be away from the sinister films.

\---

"Okay, so the last one by the piece of shit is labeled 'knife play'. The last one by Will is labeled...  
picnic with mom...?" Matthew raised a brow and looked at Hannibal with the tapes in his hands.

"What's the date on that, actually? The picnic one, that is." Mason asked with a raised finger.

"...uh, 11-22-01. Why?"

"You left out the one you pulled out with the boy cutting his hair- 'cutting', over here. It's after the  
picnic." Mason waved the tape at them, both of them looking to each other before taking it and  
checking the date.

"Okay...that makes much more sense...let's see knife play since it's dated-...the same day?"  
Matthew gawked at the realization, shifting his eyes to Hannibal with worried eyes.

"I do believe we should watch Mr. Neal's knife play first then." Hannibal took the tape and put  
it in the VCR with a soft huff.

\---

_The screen fizzled and played-_

_The man leaving the camera to show the nude tied up early teenage boy whimpering in the binds on the bed._  
_His arms and legs all stretched out wide as the ropes wrapped around each bed post around him._

\---

"I'm sorry but we're going to have to watch this through if what I think happens is here..." Hannibal said  
quietly to Matthew, who scrunched his brows together with a hard frown and nodded shakily biting his lip.

\---

_Neal pulled a rag from out of Will's mouth as he climbed onto the bed with a blade in hand._

_("You're only allowed to scream- if you say a single word I'll have to push this little knife in your shoulder_  
_again, hmkay? I don't like messing your perfect skin but if I have to I will, sweetheart.")_

_Will simply stifled a sob and nodded as he stared up at the larger stronger man wearing just boxers over him._

_Neal praised him and began kissing him with the knife held to his throat, Will's leg's bending only the small bit_  
_they could manage against the tight rope's pull- his toes curled in fearful nerves as he endured the uncomfortable embrace._

 _A flurry of sobs and painful whimpers escaped his lips as he was held down and taken advantage of, the pace building_  
_harder and faster as Neal became more ruthless with his rutting into the boy._

 _Will suddenly craned his head up, begging through his pained little moans, surprising everyone including Neal when instead_  
_of pleading for the man to stop it was to kiss him._

 _Neal, clearly sent reeling in awe at the new words leaving the boy's lips, kissed him hard, marveling at the young exploring_  
_tongue that he shared for the first time._

\---

"He's got fucking Stockholm or something, what the fuck..." Matthew cursed with a furious expression.

Hannibal simply raised a brow and crossed his arms.

"Give him a moment, Matthew."

\---

 _The makeout lasted a minute or two before Will grunted and dropped his head back down to the pillow, panting_  
_as Neal continued thrusting into him with a huffing crooked grin._

_("C-cut, my right hand loose? I want to touch you...I want to feel it...i-in, my hand when you finish...please?")_

_Neal slowed down with wide eyes, biting his lip as he nodded and pulled out- Will cringing as he was emptied_  
_of the painful stretch._

 _The man cut the rope in half from Will's right hand, shuddering an excited moan as the boy took his member in his_  
_hand and began jerking him off without much skill- but the act alone was enough to drive the abuser to wild_  
_satisfaction._

 _Will's eyes stared up at the man, the blade still held close to his throat as the tip poked against his jaw. He glanced_  
_at the camera set up a few feet from the side of the bed and frowned, his little adams apple bobbing once as he_  
_swallowed hard and blinked his tearing up blue eyes._

 _Suddenly, Will scrunched his brows together and gritted his teeth, twisting his hand at a harsh angle- a horrific_  
_shriek from the man as his private was broken by the boy's grip._

 _Will yelped when the blade sliced a short cut along his jaw, quickly snatching the knife from Neal as he hunched over in_  
_screaming pain._

 _The boy shoved him over off of him and swiped the blade across the other rope to free his other wrist,_  
_shouting when Neal cursed loud vulgarities and names, thowing the back of his hand across Will's face with_  
_a harsh blow._

 _Will coughed and spat blood for half a second before he launched the knife into Neal's shoulder, the man crying out_  
_as it was pulled back out. Will whined as he hurried forward to cut his feet free from the other two ropes. He_  
_was pushed off the bed by a strong elbow, yelling out when he hit the ground hard, Neal grunting as he painfully_  
_climbed off the bed and was visible from the head down to his shoulders._

 _Will, out of the frame of the camera, struggled with choking whimpers and sobs, one hand coming into view_  
_as it trembled and reached up to claw at the man's straining red tensed neck._

 _Neal, clearly using both hands to strangle the boy, snarled furiously as his shoulders shook in a rage of_  
_adrenaline._

_Will's hand weakened and stayed planted, struggling to scratch at Neal's thick shoulder._

_With a final surge of strength as the air was suffocated from his body, somehow, Will's other hand snapped_  
_into the frame- the blade slicing clear across Neal's throat as he choked on a shocked gurgled_  
_gasp._

 _Will's sharp inhaled gasp was heard from off screen below the man when the large hands finally left his_  
_throat and lifted to his own bleeding out jugular._

 _The man fell sideways off the boy, Will straining as he sat up with panting wheezes and coughs, his face_  
_and shoulders coated with fresh wet blood. He shakily breathed in the desperately needed oxygen,_  
_staring at the man that slowly died on the floor beneath him._

_The corner of Will's mouth twitched into a grin, a shuddered chuckle as he licked the blood in from his lips._

_He looked to the camera now and huffed as he reached over to pick it up off the tripod._

_The video ended after he filmed the last violent breaths of Uncle Neal._

\---

The room was silent as the static hissed on the screen.

Matthew's jaw slacked open in shock, Mason's brows raised in bafflement,

and Hannibal's grin wide as he thought about how to propose marriage to the young man sleeping upstairs.

"Um....holy...shit?" Matthew finally managed to mutter.

Hannibal chuckled, "Obviously Mr. Neal must have labeled his tapes a little ahead of himself, hm?"

"Wayyyy ahead of himself." Mason added with a scoff as Hannibal quickly put in 'cutting'.

\---

 _Will sighed and turned his frown to the side in a huff as he stared into the camera lens propping it at a lowered_  
_angle. His face and torso still wet and stained with blood that dripped from his young but growing chisled sharp chin._

_("Uh...so this- is um...this is Uncle Neal....Uncle...Uncle neal...put my...my mommy and daddy in..this fridge...")_

_Will tapped the back of his knuckles to the bloodied bottom of the fridge that was in the lowered frame and scooted_  
_over to tilt the camera down a bit more._

_A cluster of Neal's dismembered body parts and organs spilled all over, the floor covered in blood._

_Will wore the man's boxers as he sat knelt in the pool of violence, his knees slipping a bit as he tried_  
_to adjust the camera to keep him and the limbs in view._

_("Uncle Neal can't play anymore.")_

\---

Hannibal's heart fluttered in his chest as his veins ran cold with admiring chills.

Maybe he'd get the boy a well trained puppy that didn't need to be accompanied outside.

Go the cheesy route and tie the ring to the dog's collar.

\---

_Will lifted the camera slightly as he opened the fridge and started tossing the body parts into the fridge._

_("He's going to stay with...with where he put my mommy and daddy...so he has to stay stuck with the bad things_  
_he did to them...")_

_Will paused and stared into the opened lid, blinking a few bloody tears away as he remained silent for a moment._

  
_("...and I'm going to stay in the same house with them for the rest of my life....I'll never leave you mommy....daddy...")_

 _He reached in and touched what could very well have been his parent's faces with a sad sniffle, returning after a few_  
_strokes to putting Neal's cut apart body in the fridge._

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ps. Neal is who Bedelia killed with her fist ..er...forearm.  
> Elbow. Most of her fucking arm. 
> 
> *clears throat* 
> 
> -just in case ya'll forgot Zachary Quinto's short lived role.
> 
> (also ps. holy shit this chapter could be like 5 chapters I'm sorry?)


	7. Welcome Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "- to Will's World!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *smiles*

  

 

 

Hannibal and Matthew left through the storm shed and rounded the house to come through the front door,  
Mason left down in the bedroom with bitter protest- not because of the history of the room but to being  
abandoned with his injury.

Matthew had simply told him he shouldn't have come to the house in the first place, especially with intentions of  
killing anyone.

\---

Hannibal found the fridge plentiful with enough food to begin cooking a breakfast for them, meanwhile Matthew  
sat in the chair in front of the couch Will slept on.

He blinked and leaned forward, touching the back of his knuckle to push Will's chin up a bit, for the first  
time actually noticing the jagged healed cut perfectly aligned on his jawline under the thin bit of stubble he grew over it.

Matthew sighed at it and gently pulled the blanket down to reveal his bare shoulders, seeing the faint line of a small  
knife wound less than an inch away from being hidden by his armpit. When Neal would punish him for speaking.

He looked up when he realized Hannibal came in with a glass of orange juice in hand.

"...very well hidden, aren't they? There's four more...on the tops of his feet, and the center of his palms. Dead center. If   
he wakes before breakfast is done would you be so kind as to give him this to drink with his medication?"

"Uh...yeah, sure...wh-what, what're they there for?"

"Punishment I'm guessing...either running away, not obeying a command, or almost telling his parents what they do.   
They're put in spots no one would notice right away. His abuser was the one caring for him most of the time   
anyway with his mother's depression and father's work hours. There wasn't anyone to see the signs and help him."

Hannibal frowned and walked away, Matthew watching him before looking back to the sleeping young man.

\---

Will stirred when he smelled the food on the air, Matthew glanced up from his phone and sat it down when he  
saw him start to wake.

"Hey, you feeling any better kiddo?"

Will opened his eyes and blinked a few times, rubbing his eye as he sat up and looked at Matthew.

"...you're back....s-sorry...for dropping you like that." Will croaked with a hoarse tired voice, quirking  
his head as he accepted the glass of juice the man held out.

Matthew raised his brows in surprise, not expecting the more adult tone and demeanor from Will now.

"I...uh- nah it's okay. You remember everything from last night?"

"Kinda...blacks in and out...felt like a bad dream. I remember some asshole knocking me out. I remember  
the same asshole dragging me outside...not much after that. Then panicking when I saw you guys in the  
kitchen but, I wasn't afraid of you, just the crazy one with the glasses...I tried to trap him-"

Will paused as he accepted the handful of pills Hannibal had already sat out for Matthew to give him,  
swallowing them quickly and drinking the juice before setting the glass down.

"-under the um...the kitchen." Will studied Matthew for a second before remembering more.

"Matthew, right?"

Matthew smirked and nodded, leaning back in the chair with a huff.  
"So...you're not freaked out that me and Hannibal are basically robbers who broke into your house?"

Will chuckled and rubbed his face, a surprising warm blush heating his cheeks as he did.   
"The robbers who broke into my house last night put me down for a nap, got me my medication  
on time, and now apparently are making me breakfast. I'm pretty sure you're the worst bad guys  
I've ever seen."

Matt laughed loud at that, covering his face as he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees,   
Will joining the laughter with a wide grin.

"That's what I fuckin' thought, ha. Shit, come on, it's gotta be ready by now."  
Matthew stood and helped Will off the couch after shoving the blanket aside.

Just as he was letting his hand go he saw the cut on his palm Hannibal spoke of, twitching a short  
frown before putting it out of his mind and walked with him to the kitchen.

\---

"William, how did you sleep?"

"Good, thanks...what's this you're making, it smells really good. Hell, I don't even touch most this stuff  
I get so lazy I just stick with grilled cheese or ramen. Damn lawyer keeps making the delivery guy bring  
me all this fancy shit..." Will stepped over to the stove of warm food sizzling in pots and pans as Hannibal  
stood a few feet away cutting vegetables.

Hannibal raised a brow at the bed-headed pajama bottomed boy and looked to Matthew, who shrugged  
with a smirk, understanding the surprise of Will's age-regression disappearing.

"I'm happy to put it to some use then, I'll make you a plate, where would you like to eat- the couch?"  
Hannibal plated the eggs and sausages with vegetables and sausage, doing the same to a second   
and third. Then paused when he realized Will hadn't answered.

"William?"

"...oh, uh...no, dinning table is fine, shit, let me go move the newspapers off it real quick."  
Will snapped back into it, hurrying over to the table as Matthew offered to help and followed.

\---

Matthew dug into the meal without grace, claiming his starvation after having not eaten the previous  
day or night.

Hannibal rolled his eyes at the messy man and cut his sausage up on his own plate. "You could do for  
some table manners, Matthew."

"Yeah- mmf," He swallowed hard and spoke with a chunk of food still in his cheek, "-teach me."  
Matthew smirked and flipped Hannibal off with the handle of the fork between his knuckles,  
the man chuckling at the tolerated rude gesture.

Matthew stopped laughing and smiled over at Will, chewing his food as he watched the younger  
man staring at them.

"You okay kiddo? Want something to drink with it? I can go refill your juice-" Matthew cleared his throat,  
setting down his fork and brushing crumbs from his hoodie to stand.

" **No** -no no...I'm fine, thank you..." Will smiled as Matt froze in the half stance, the man shrugging and  
sitting back down to scoop another bite up.

Hannibal smiled when Will looked at him now, "Are you sure you're okay William?"

Will chewed his lip and smiled wider, a small scoff as he nodded, wiggling his nose as he finally  
picked up the fork to begin eating.

"Mm, what is it- you look like you wanted to say something, if you want our asses outta here we can dip, I don't  
want to stay where I ain't wanted." Matthew asked, scrunching his brows together as he chewed and watched  
Will laugh and shake his head.

"No, I uh, it's just something stupid. I used to have this camera growing up, I'd record the dumbest things. I kinda  
wish I had it with me right now. Ya'll are a strange pair but...interesting."  
Will's smile stayed gentle as he stared down at his plate, pushing the food around as he thought.

Matthew and Hannibal looked at each other and back to Will.

"Hey, you know what- you don't remember it but, you told us about some show you made when you were a kid.  
I'd be fuckin' HONOURED to get a special introduction to Will's World by THE, WILL of Will's World. How's about it?"  
Matthew scooted his chair back and pulled his phone out, switching to the camera app and stepped over to pull  
Will out of his chair.

"I did?" Will gawked as he was lead over to the side Hannibal sat at, blinking down at the phone Matthew handed him.

"Yeah! Come on, it sounded awesome, we're the guests of honour here aren't we?! Give us a good look!"

Hannibal wiped his mouth with a napkin and stood up now next to Matthew, "I certainly would feel better  
considered as a guest rather than a stranger in your home." He said with a crooked smile.

Will laughed and stammered, "I-ah-uh, oh, okay, um, alright, but no laughing, promise?"

"Cross our guilty little hearts." Hannibal winked, Will flushing red as he licked his lips and nodded.   
He ran his hand through his bed-headed short curls and cleared his throat as he held the front facing   
camera up to get all three of them in the shot and pressed record.

" **Welcome back to Will's World**! Today we've got Mr. Matthew and Mr. Hannibal on the show, and they  
are the worst burglars in the history of _all_ time! That's right- we're having breakfast together. There's a bad rabbit man, but he's trapped."

Will smiled as Matt wrapped an arm around him, Hannibal winking with a smirk as Will paused to let him speak.

 

"How would you like some rabbit stew for dinner, William?" Hannibal asked, Matt raising a brow at the man. 

 

Will snapped his eyes to the foreign man and smiled curiously in silent question before Matt answered for him. 

 

"I think rabbit's on the menu. I'm actually down for some."

 

Will grinned now and licked his lips, " I think I'll label this one as 'Best, day, ever'."

 

 


	8. Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Some people deserve to be supper."
> 
>  
> 
> "Dinner." Matthew corrected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *shrugs innocently*

 

  

 

  
Hannibal was the first to sink a knife deep into Mason's gut as he 'helped him up' out of the chair,  
holding the surprised man in his arm tight for a minute as he lowered him to the floor and left the   
blade in him.

Matthew crouched down and stared into Mason's rolling back eyes, his hands fumbling to his stomach  
before Matt gently pushed them away and gripped the handle of the knife, twitching a wince as he   
snapped it harshly across to slice the floored man open- a surge of blood splattering up across his  
skin and face with a flinched blink.

Hannibal smirked and watched Mason twitch and tremble as he bled out in the haunted bedroom.

"Not so funny anymore, _is it_ , asshole...?" Matt muttered as he wiped the blood from his lips and stood  
to see Hannibal approach, the two dragging the body through to the observation room and over to  
the room with the refrigerator.

Will perked up, sitting Indian style on the ground with his back against the white dusty box when he  
saw the two men dragging Mason's bloody body in.

"Go at it, kiddo." Matt said with a tired huff, standing upright beside Hannibal as the man handed Will  
a fresh blade.

"Thanks guys!" Will beamed, appreciating the privacy they gave him by stepping out as he cut up the  
body into messy pieces.

\---

Matt leaned against the wall with Hannibal and rested his hands in his pockets, raising a brow when he  
noticed Hannibal smiling at nothing.

"Why am I constantly surrounded by people with a psychotic passion for violence and gore?"

"The same reason you gutted the vile Mr. Verger open. Because you know why some people deserve to be  
supper."

" _Dinner_." Matt corrected. 

"Whatever you prefer, Matthew dear."

"Just make sure the stew actually tastes like _rabbit_ , please."   
Matt snarled under his breath, wiping more blood from his chin with his wrist.

"I wouldn't serve _anything_ to your distaste, as _**always**_."

Matt snapped his eyes to Hannibal and rolled them at the not-so-surprising hint that he's been feeding  
him the 'rude folk' he often talked about for quite some time now.

"Fuckin asshole, you're a _hell_ of a cook."

" _ **Thank you**_ ~" Hannibal smiled wide and winked at the younger man.

\---


End file.
